The Greatest Power
Chapter 2 -- Digital Discovery
(Author's Note: This is a TK/Kari fic, but expect Tai/Sora and Matt/Mimi in there as well. It's definatly a romance fic, but it'll have plenty of action in there, too, or it will sooner or later. This fanfic is set 4 years after the defeat of Apocalymon and writen before the second Digimon series or movie came to America, so no characters or plots from that series or movie are in this story. Also, so nobody has to fight to think of how they changed in looks, just imagine the TV characters taller and more mature looking, I wont make reference to their clothes so you can imagine them however you want, I thought that would make it easier on you. Please read Chapter 1 so you'll know everything that's going on in this story. I admit this chapter has little TK/Kari romance, but for those fans, there's a surprise near the end.)
While all of the Digidestined were spending their last day in their world, mostly doing what they liked to do best, their Digimon were spending another uneventful day on File Island. After all they had been through, they all wondered why they haven't gone insane with bordom. For some reason, they had been contacted by Gennai to meet at this spot, a riverbank not too far away from the beach. He didn't say why, just to wait till the next day and they'd see why. The strange part was that this was the first place they had really met their human friends and explained Digivolving to them.
Agumon and Biyomon were sitting together, their feet dangling in the calm waters of the river. Biyomon had her head rested against Agumon's shoulder, which he hardly minded since he had his arm draped over her shoulders in trade. For almost a year now the two had been inseperable for some reason. Neither one could explain it, but they didn't want to lose that feeling, either. Just as the two were starting to doze off, they felt a sudden splash of water hit them, knocking them on their backs.
"Whoops, sorry guys!" Gomamon's voice said from the water. Agumon and Biyomon sat up to see Gomamon, neck deep in the water, with many of his colorful fish around him. "I've been looking for Palmon, Gabumon said they got into a fight and she ran off." It wasn't anything new to Agumon or Biyomon, though. Gabumon and Palmon had the same thing Agumon and Biyomon had, except they've had it for about 5 months and they had already gotten into a few fights.
"Did Gabumon say where she ran off to?" Biyomon asked, now on her feet. Agumon got to his feet and looked around, looking for Tentomon, Patamon and Gatomon.
"No, he just said she ran off, then he left to find her." Gomamon explained. "I already found Tentomon, he's flying around looking for her and Gabumon now." He turned around quickly, looking at his fish friends. "Go up and down the river as far as you can, if you see anything green and pink, let me know!" The fish seemed to understand and swam off, half going one way, half going the other. Agumon was still looking around for the others. He spotted Patamon, napping in a low branch of a tree with Gatomon taking a cat nap at the base of the tree.
"Hey, Gatomon, Patamon, wake up time!" Agumon said, running over to the tree. Gatomon woke up quickly and stood up. Patamon had waken up from Agumon's yelling too, but woke up much slower.
"Agumon, do you have to disturb all of my naps?" Gatomon said, flexing her claws a bit. Agumon had been a bit of a leader in Tai's absence, something he had picked up from his human friend.
"Sorry..." Agumon said, scratching the back of his head. "Palmon ran off and we're trying to find her." Patamon's "ears" perked up, now fully awake.
"No problem, why didn't you say so?" Gatomon said. "I'll have her back in two shakes of a digitail." With that she turned and started to head into a small forest nearby.
"Hey, hold it!" Agumon quickly shouted, stopping Gatomon. "Let me come with you, two can find her faster than one." Agumon started to follow, only to stop when Gatomon shook her head at him.
"No offence, Agumon, but I don't need you to find a stray flower... Besides, I'd be better off alone." Gatomon had a point... She was the only Champion level Digimon among them and a lot of Digimon still knew her as one of Myotismon's henchmen, which scared most off. Gatomon started to run off again, then her eyes caught Patamon, still in the tree, staring at her. After about a minute of eye to eye contact, Gatomon waved Patamon to come with her. Patamon flew from his spot on the branch and flew after Gatomon, who was running into the forest. Once the two were gone, Agumon couldn't help but wonder why she wanted Patamon to come with her and not him...
"Hey, Agumon!" Biyomon's voice called out, breaking Agumon's thought. "Gomamon's fish are coming back, I think they found something!" Agumon turned back toward Biyomon and walked to her. He saw the fish that went downstream coming back, more jumpy than when they left. Gomamon had gotten out of the water and was standing on one side of Biyomon with Agomon on her other side.
"Fine anything?" Gomamon asked his fish. They flopped up and down like they were nodding yes. They flopped around and somehow produced a pink rose, complete with a green stem. They passed it over to Gomamon, who took it in his claws, but just stared at it. "That's not quite... what I meant..." he said. Disappointed, the fist dived underwater and vanished. Gomamon tossed the rose behind him where Agumon caught it. He looked at it for a second, then at Biyomon before slipping the rose into the feathers on the side of her head. The rose was just barely a darker shade of pink than her feathers. Biyomon smiled and gave Agumon a "peck" on his cheek just before Tentomon flew back from a group of trees with Palmon slowly walking behind him.
"Great job, Tentomon!" Agumon said. "How did you find her?" Tentomon landed in front of Agumon. He was panting and looked eager to finally let his wings rest.
"Well it wasn't easy to say the least!" Tentomon shouted. "I was chasing after Gabumon, but he ran into some thick trees and I lost him, then Palmon came out of nowhere and I followed her, then I lose her and found Gabumon, then lost him and found her... I was going nuts!" Tentomon collapsed, exausted from searching and explaining his search. Palmon, still at her slow walking pace, finally reached the group.
"Palmon, we were worried about you." Biyomon said. Palmon was looking towards the ground with a sad look in her eyes. The kind she had every time she and Gabumon had this kind of argument.
"I'm sorry..." Palmon said with a sad tone in her voice. "When me and Gabumon got into another argument, I just had to get away for a while... I didn't mean to worry everybody... It's just that every time Gabumon does this..." As if on cue, the fish that went upstream came back with Gabumon on the riverbank, following the fish back to the group. Palmon saw him first and immediatly moved, putting the rest of the Digimon between her and Gabumon. Gabumon had the same sad look in his eye, but kept his distance from the group.
"Welcome back, Gabumon!" Agumon said, walking over to the sad Digimon. The two had groen to be best friends since Tai and Matt had last left. Gabumon didn't answer Agumon's greeting, though, he was too upset to worry about returning the greeting. Agumon seemed understanding, keeping quiet instead of asking and nagging about it.
"Well now that we're all here," Biyomon started, "where's Patamon and Gatomon? Shouldn't they have been back by now?" Agumon looked back at where Gatomon and Patamon had run off to and saw that they weren't back yet. They weren't anywhere nearby, either. "Maybe we should send someone after them." Biyomon suggested.
"Good idea." Agumon agreed. "Hey Tentomon, can you..."
"Are you crazy?!" Tentomon said, cutting Agumon off. Tentomon was still laying flat on his belly with his wings twitching, still exhausted from searching for Palmon and Gabumon.
"Whoops, sorry..." Agumon said, forgetting Tentomon was still tired. "Guess I'll have to go after them..." Agumon turned toward the spot Gatomon and Patamon disppeared into and started running toward it, half afraid some Digimon grabbed them. Just as he was about to go through the bushes the two ran off into, something popped out and bashed into Agumon, throwing him back a few feet. Agumon, now half on his back, rubbed his throbbing head. He had his eyes shut so he didn't see what hit him. When he did finally open them, he was surprised to see Patamon rubbing his own head with Gatomon kneeling down beside him. "Where have you two been??" Agumon asked, ignoring his headache. Patamon shook his head a bit and stood up with Gatomon, both with slightly guilty looks on their faces.
"Sorry, Agumon." Gatomon said. Agumon felt like he had heard that word one too many times today. "We thought we saw Palmon and chased after her, but we lost her after a while." Gatomon took a quick glance behind Agumon and saw Palmon, now with her feet dangling in the water to get a drink. "Guess you did better than we did." Agumon looked at Patamon, who was just watching Gatomon explain things.
"Don't worry about it, you just concerned us, that's all." Agumon said before turning around and walking back to the group. Gatomon and Patamon glanced at each other, still with guilty looks on their faces, then followed the orange Digimon back to the main group. Tentomon was back on his feet and Biyomon had her feet back in the water. She was talking things over with Palmon, trying to lift her spirits. Gabumon had found Gatomon's previous spot at the base of the nearest tree and was now leaning against it, still sad apparently.
Agumon looked up at the now dark night sky. Agumon looked at a small pile of sticks he had piled up earlier and spit a small Pepper Breath at it, setting it ablaze. "Well Gennai told us to wait for morning." Agumon said, finding a spot near the fire and laying down. "Might as well sleep till then..." Agumon stayed awake, watching everyone else. Biyomon, as usual, took a spot near Agumon and fell asleep fast. Tentomon had his own spot across from them and was already fast asleep, probably from flying around all day. Palmon had left the river and found a place a little away from the fire, not wanting to get singed in the middle of the night. After a while, Gabumon slowly left the tree and found a spot on the opposite side of the fire that Palmon was on, still trying to keep away from her at all costs. Once most were asleep, Agumon looked around and started to stand up when Gatomon put her claw on his shoulder, pushing him back down.
"Don't bother, Agumon." Gatomon whispered. "Me and Patamon will take tonight's watch, just get to sleep." Agumon thought about it, then nodded and laid down beside Biyomon. As he was going to sleep, he remembered that Gatomon and Patamon asked for the watch a lot more often over the past few months. It made sense, Gatomon was the strongest and cats could stay up a long time, but why Patamon took the watch, too, he didn't know. He set it aside and fell asleep, but he still wasn't sure about what to expect when he woke up.
**********
The next day, back in the real world, it was almost noon and the Digidestined were gathering in the middle of the park. The area they decided on was surrounded by trees so nobody could see what was happening. They had always met here when they did their usual trips back and forth and the area was still just as private two years later. Izzy was, of course, typing on his computer, making sure everything was in order. Sora and Mimi were on one side talking, mostly about what was going on between Mimi and Matt. Mimi was always ready to talk about their fights the day after they have them. Kari was also there, leaving much earlier than her older brother. She was eager to get back and see Gatomon again. Joe, ever the reliable one, was the first one there out of all of them and was waiting against his favorite tree for the others.
The second noon rolled around TK and Matt came through the trees. As soon as they came through the trees Mimi turned away, not sure of what to think of Matt at the moment. Kari just smiled when she saw TK come in.
"Let me guess." Matt said, taking a spot against a tree near where they came in. "We're waiting for our 'fearless leader' to show up?" Everyone but TK and Mimi nodded at Matt, even Izzy who had shut down his laptop for now. "Why am I not surprised..." Matt asked himself, staring at the ground. Tai really was his best friend but sometimes he couldn't help but say things like that.
After sitting for about 20 minutes with little conversation, Tai ran through the trees and practically skidded to a stop in the center of their little area. He was panting and sweating a bit, obviously running all the way here. Everyone was glad he didn't take as long as he did last time they went and smiled at his sudden entrance. Sora walked over and hugged him, with Tai returning it as well as he could.
"Sorry I'm so late, everyone." Tai said, letting go of Sora. "I kind of got caught up in something." Tai was covering up the fact he had lost his Digivice for a while. He finally found it just five minutes ago.
"Now that everyone's here." Izzy started, standing up. "Did everyone remember their Digivices?" Izzy was looking at Tai, half expecting him to admit he couldn't find his.
"Yes!" Everyone but Izzy said at once. Even thought they weren't needed, everyone was also wearing their fake tags and crests. To everyone it didn't seem like the Digiworld without them.
"Then you all know the drill!" Izzy said, walking into the center of the circle. He grabbed his Digivice from his pocket and held it out with it facing towards the sky.
"I've still got a bad feeling about this..." Joe said, joining Izzy in the center, holding out his Digivice. One by one, the rest walked up and held their Digivices out with all of them pointed up at the sky.
"Don't worry about it, Joe." Tai said, trying to bring some confidence to his friend. "There's nothing to worry about, we've done this plenty of times." Tai was right, this used to be a weekly visit till high school hit them.
"Well sorry, Tai." Joe said, sounding half sarcastic. "I guess it's just my fear of being tossed through dimentions by something we've known for so long and still barely know about." Tai rolled his eyes, knowing he'd answer like that. The eight waited a few seconds in silence before a rainbow of light fell from the sky, touching the ground they were surrounding. The whole thing was still a little eerie to all of them, crossing dimentions on a rainbow, but it was the only way to get to the Digiworld. Tai was the first to step into the light, followed by Kari and Matt. One by one, the rest of the group walked into the rainbow light, Joe being the last. Slowly, they lifted off the ground, raising slowly higher into the beam of light. Just before they were above the treetops where they would be seen, a bright flash of light came out of nowhere, making it hard for any of them to see until they were all forced to close their eyes. They all felt themselves first going up very fast, then like they were falling, but it all happened so quick it was hard to tell.
**********
Agumon was snoring away, having a nice dream of Biyomon and him with a Digiegg or two. Agumon was always having such far out dreams. Suddenly his dream was broken by a slight shaking, like someone was trying to wake him up. Agumon figured it was just Gatomon waiting for him to take over night watch and pretended he was still asleep, keeping his eyes clenched shut.
"Wake up, sleepy head!" A voice above Agumon said. It definatly wasn't Gatomon, the voice was male, but that was all he could tell in his drowsy state. The shaking became more violent, giving Agumon a headache from all the shaking. Finally, Agumon relented and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked up and saw a mess of brown and blue in his foggy eyes. He rubbed them again and looked back up, now seeing who was shaking him. "Not getting enough sleep lately?" Tai said, grinning. Agumon sprang to his feet and tackled his best human friend, excited to see him.
"Tai, what are you doing here?!" Agumon said eagerly. Tai was trying his best to get up before Agumon's excitement got out of hand.
"We thought we'd stop by!" Tai said, rolling Agumon off and standing up. "Besides, it's the first time we've all been available in a long time."
"Um... we?" Agumon said, kind of confused. He looked around and saw what he meant. All the Digidestined were with their Digimon. Sora was sitting on the ground, hugging Biyomon. Izzy was already trading stories with Tentomon about the past two years. Joe was sitting by the river, trying to avoid being splashed by Gomamon. TK looked the most excited, chasing Patamon around the area and having some trouble catching the flying Digimon. Mimi was hugging Palmon and Palmon looked really happy for the first time since her fight with Gabumon. Speaking of which, Matt was sitting against a tree with Gabumon, playing on his harmonica like old times. Kari was up in a tree with Gatomon sitting in her lap, glad to be with her human companion. It almost looked like the old times when they didn't have to worry about Dark Masters or evil Digimon like that, despite how rare those times were.
"What, you didn't think I'd come back alone, did you?" Tai said, knowing the answer and wearing a smile that said he did.
"Well how was I suppose to know?" Agumon said, still looking around, half in disbelief. "I'm glad you're back, though, things have been way too dull around here." Agumon was looking at Patamon, still being chased my TK, who just flew up and joined Gatomon and Kari. TK reached the tree and climbed up after Patamon, who seemed to be waiting for TK to get to the branch Kari was on. Once he did, Patamon flew over and sat in his lap, partially from being tired from flying around so much. "Those two still hang around together all the time?" Agumon asked Tai, who was looking over at Sora and Mimi talking with Biyomon and Palmon.
"Yeah, I'm lucky I can even separate those two when I need to." Tai said, turning his attention to the four in the tree.
"That's the same for Gatomon and Patamon, they've been best friends ever since you guys last left." Agumon explained. "Just last night they volunteered to take guard duty, they've been doing that a lot the past few months." Tai was surprised at the news since Gatomon always seemed like the kind that didn't take many friends, except for Kari and Wizardmon before his death. Something in the back of Tai's mind told him that such a thing might not be such a coincidence...
**********
A few hours later, it really was back to old times. The Digidestined and their Digimon were exploring their favorite parts of File Island, most of which was new to Kari since she never really explored the island before. Some of the Digimon had paired off and were walking together in front of their human companions. Agumon and Biyomon were in the front, walking just ahead of Tai and Sora. Matt and Gabumon were trying to keep the group between them and Mimi and Palmon. Izzy, Tentomon, Joe and Gomamon were dead center of the group, and TK and Kari were in the back, walking just in front of Patamon and Gatomon. Everyone seemed happy to be back to their traditional setup of things.
"We realls should have come back here sooner." Sora said, taking Tai's hand in her own. "I forgot how beautiful the Digiworld could be when there weren't any evil Digimon trying to take it over." Tai smiled at Sora and gripped her hand a little.
"You're right." He admitted. "It's kind of hard to notice when you've got Devimons and Etemons and Dark Masters getting you all the time." Tai meant it as a joke, but Sora seemed serious at the thought. She looked down at Biyomon and noticed something she hadn't seen before, making her forget about Tai's comment.
"Hey, Tai..." Sora said in a silent tone. "Take a look at Agumon and Biyomon, you notice anything strange?" Tai looked down at his orange Digimon and he looked the same as always. He turned his eyes to Biyomon, who also looked the same... but the two were holding hands as they walked... well claws and wings, at least... still Tai never noticed it before.
"Hey guys, maybe we should take a quick rest?" Tai said suddenly. Everyone was surprised by it since Tai never did this before, but none complained.
"Wow." Mimi said to Palmon. "Maybe Tai wants to take as many breaks as I do from now on?" Palmon shrugged as best as she could.
"Maybe, but then again maybe something's wrong?" Palmon said. "That's why we always stopped suddenly before." Mimi cringed a bit.
"Please, Palmon, don't mention that, we haven't even been here a day yet." Mimi said. Palmon smiled nervously and nodded. The spot they ended up stopping at was a fairly large area a short distance from a small lake, possibly the one they battled Seadramon in. There was a small patch of trees nearby, too, which must have grown since they were there last, and the area was mostly surrounded by bushes. Gabumon wandered over to the lake, possibly still depressed over his fight with Palmon. Once everyone was settled down, Tai walked to Izzy, who was back to translating the script on the temple wall with Tentomon watching over his shoulder.
"Hey, Izzy." Tai said, sittind down in front of Izzy. "By any chance, did you notice what's going on between Agumon and Biyomon?" Izzy was still staring at his computer screen, typing furiously. "IZZY!!" Tai screamed, scaring Izzy out of his computer trance and knocking Tentomon onto his back.
"You don't have to yell!" Izzy said, setting his computer aside. "Now what about Agumon and Biyomon? They look perfectly fine to..." Izzy's glance fell on the two Digimon in question, who were sitting against a tree, thier arms around each other's shoulders. "...I think I see what you mean." Izzy looked about as shocked as Tai was when he saw it first.
"I never thought Digimon fell in love like humans." Tai said, looking at his Digimon, who was smiling happily. "But the thing that really got to me was that Agumon told me Gatomon and Patamon have been best friends just like TK and Kari... It got me wondering if anything could be happening between us and our Digimon." Izzy picked up his computer again, but this time accessed a few files on their Digimon and the Digidestined.
"Well we do share a bond with them that even I don't really understand." Izzy explained. "It's easily possible that our emotional feelings pass to them as well, and since you and Sora are in love, Agumon and Biyomon are too." Tai looked back at Agumon and Biyomon again and realized he might be right. "Hey Tentomon?" Izzy said to his friend, who just got back onto his feet. "How long have Agumon and Biyomon been like this?" Tentomon looked over at the two Digimon, which was nothing new to him.
"If I remember straight, a little short of a year now." Tentomon said. "I guess it's been going on so much I never really noticed anymore." Izzy and Tai both looked at each other in disbelief.
"Well, that's proof enough for me." Tai said. Then something else hit him. "Hey Tentomon, has anything been going on with Gabumon and Palmon?" Izzy suddenly realized the same thing when Tai mentioned them.
"Well yes, but they're different." Tentomon said. Tai and Izzy were looking around for Gabumon and Palmon now, seeing how they were acting. "One minute they're perfectly happy then the next they're at each others throats... They've been doing that for about 6 months now." Now Tai and Izzy were even worse than before. Neither one could find Gabumon, but they saw Palmon wander off in one the direction Gabumon went, towards the lake. The two were about to follow when they saw Matt walking off toward a different part of the lake. "Um, this may or may not be a good thing but I think I saw Mimi wander off in that direction earlier." Now Tai and Izzy knew something bad was about to happen.
"Might be a good idea to keep an eye on both of them." Tai said, walking off in the direction Matt went. Before he could get too far, Izzy grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.
"We've gotta keep an eye on both couples." Izzy said, pointing in the direction Palmon went in. "The two spots aren't that far off, I'll bet the trees separating them have a spot where we could keep an eye on all of them." Tai looked and saw the paths really weren't that far off and were divifed by a patch of trees not a few feet deep. Not enough to stop them from seeing both groups, but also enough that the two couples couldn't hear each other. Tai began to walk toward the patch of trees when he heard a sound behind him. He and Izzy turned around and saw TK and Kari, standing there like they were listening the whole time. Tai looked back at the tree the two were in before and only saw Patamon and Gatomon sitting on the branch.
"Let me guess." Tai said looking at the two. Both had a slightly mischevous look on their faces. "You want to come along?" TK and Kari both nodded.
"I've gotta see what my brother's up to, he never just walks off like that..." TK wasn't including the time he walked off after their first Puppetmon incident since he came back and explained... sort of.
"Besides, we've got experiance with this kind of thing!" Kari said, winking at her brother. Tai didn't know what she was talking about, but before he had time to think he was chasing after the two, who were running off for the patch of trees. Izzy was following close behind, trying his best to keep up. All this time, Agumon and Tentomon were watching their human friends arranging everything. Then something came to Agumon's mind.
"Hey Tentomon?" Agumon asked, glancing at the tree Gatomon and Patamon were sitting in. "Last night Gatomon said she and Patamon found and followed Palmon before they lost her. Did you see either one when you were following Palmon?" Tentomon looked at Agumon, the thought for a second.
"Well it was hard to tell with my eyes drifting so often..." Tentomon admited. "but no, I don't think I did. I would have recognised them, a white cat and an orange pig are kind of easy to spot in so much green jungle." Agumon sat down and let the new thoughts swim in his head for a second. He couldn't help but wonder why Gatomon might lie to him...
**********
Tai and Izzy found TK and Kari already sitting in a narrow, clear area of the trees, surrounded by small bushes. In front of them was just more trees, but to one side was a perfect view of Mimi looking out at the water. On the other side, they had another great view, this one of Gabumon sitting waterside. The two were starting to think TK and Kari really did have experience with this.
"Took you two long enough." TK said in a quiet tone. Tai and Izzy kneeled down to hide better while both scenes took place. Nobody was sure which scene to watch more. Suddenly they knew as they saw Palmon emerge from the trees on their right, walking up to Gabumon. Gabumon turned and saw Palmon and started to walk off when Palmon extended her vines, blocking him off.
"Gabumon..." Palmon said, her voice a little shakey. "We've gotta talk, we can't avoid each other forever, you know." Palmon gave him a look of concern and Gabumon nodded, trying his best not to look straight into Palmon's eyes.
"I know..." He replied, the same shakey tone in his voice. "I'm sorry I got so mad at you, I never should have gotten that upset..." Palmon looked at him and drew her vines back in, trusting him not to leave. The four spies couldn't help but keep watching, until they heard something on their other side. They all looked over to the other side to see Matt and Mimi now talking. They had already started while they were watching the Digimon.
"No, Matt, I'm sorry..." Mimi said. It was strange because she was picking up right where Palmon left off. "It wasn't that big of a deal, I don't know why I got so mad..." Matt had a genuine look of worry on his face, something that surprised even his brother.
"No, all you wanted was to pop into a store for a minute, it wasn't anything I sould have gotten mad about." Matt looked like he was about to cry, but Mimi had beat him to it, letting a few tears roll down her cheek. Tai, Izzy and TK were still staring when Kari tugged on their shirts. They turned to see the scene of Gabumon and Palmon again. Gabumon was gently wiping away a pair of tears that were coming down Palmon's cheek.
"You know how much I hate to get into these fights..." Gabumon said gently. "The last thing I would do would be to hurt you..." Palmon sniffed a bit, trying to keep the tears back.
"I do, too..." Palmon admitted, wrapping her arms around Gabumon. Gabumon wrapped his upper arms around Palmon. TK lost intrest in this mush and turned back to Matt and Mimi, with Tai, Izzy and Kari doing the same. They fell upon a similar scene, with Matt and Mimi embracing the same way.
"I don't know why we fight so much..." Matt said, letting his eyes tear up a bit. "Every time we do it kills me because... I... I love you, Mimi..." Mimi's eyes lit up at the sound of those 3 words.
"Oh, Matt..." Mimi said, now crying from happiness. "I love you, too..." Matt smiled, hearing those words. He leaned his head down to Mimi's and kissed her with passion, a kiss Mimi gladly returned. TK and Kari jerked their heads away from the sight right away, still recovering from seeing Tai and Sora do the same thing. Tai and Izzy just sat there in shock. TK and Kari looked at each other, then grabbed Tai and Izzy by the arm and yanked them away from the sight, turning them back towards Gabumon and Palmon, who were now embraced tighter.
"Palmon..." Gabumon said, barely audible from where the four spies were sitting. "Promise we won't get into any other fights... for a while at least?" Gabumon let go of Palmon and let his hands fall into hers.
"I promise." Palmon said smiling. Still holding hands, the two turned toward the lake, watching the sky going dark, slowly becoming night. The four spies turned to the left to see Matt and Mimi doing the same thing. In silence, the four left their spot to leave the two couples to themselves. Once they were all out of the trees, they all stretched a bit, cramped from stayong on their knees for so long.
"Well at least their fight is over for now." Tai commented. Everyone nodded, then looked around. Everyone was still where they left them, but Joe had fallen into the water when Gomamon splashed him too hard. One thing TK and Kari noticed was that Patamon and Gatomon had left their perch on the tree branch. Tai and Izzy walked over to Agumon and Tentomon who were watching a patch of tall bushes. TK and Kari had walked back to the tree to wait for their Digimon to come back from wherever they went.
"Agumon?" Tai said, wondering what he was looking at. "What's so interesting about a few bushes?" Tai meant it as a joke, but Agumon had a different idea about things apparently.
"It's interesting because Patamon and Gatomon headed in there just now." Agumon said. Tai couldn't tell if his friend sounded worried or curious. "They've been doing this for about two years now and it's starting to make me wonder what they're doing." Tai looked at the bushes, then back at Izzy.
"Up for another spy game?" Tai asked Izzy with a mischevous tone in his voice.
"Sure, but ths time Tentomon and Agumon come along." Izzy said, looking down at the bug Digimon beside him. "They'll know more about what has been happening than we will." Tai nodded, agreeing, then slowly wandered into and through the bushes, trying to stay silent. Izzy soon followed, then Agumon and Tentomon came through the bushes. The view was of a small clearing with nothing but thick trees on all sides. The four saw Gatomon and Patamon, sitting beside each other. Gatomon's cat eyes could have spotted them in a second if it wasn't for the thick bush they were hiding in.
"I don't know how much longer we can keep this up..." Patamon said, a sad look on his face. Gatomon brushed her claw against his cheek, trying to get him to smile.
"I know, two years we've been doing this..." Gatomon said, trying to hide how upset she was. "The others will suspect something sooner or later." Patamon nodded, agreeing.
"Well they're our friends, if we can't tell them, who can we tell?" Patamon was trying to put a bright spin on whatever situation the four spies were watching.
"I don't know if they would accept it..." Gatomon said, now showing a hint of sadness in her eyes. "We aren't even on the same Digivolution level." Izzy was obviously getting some ideas, but didn't want to jump to conclusions. He knew the two were best friends since TK and Kari were best friends, so whatever they meant was escaping him.
"I know..." Patamon said, turning toward Gatomon. "Sometimes I can't believe it myself." Patamon was smiling again, stretching the wings on his head a bit.
"Guess you can't help but like mature girls?" Gatomon joked. Tai and Izzy were both getting ideas now, but before they could think them through, Gatomon and Patamon embraced each other and shared a deep kiss, the kind that only two people deeply in love would give each other. Tai and Izzy's jaw's dropped a the sight, but Agumon and Tentomon completely freaked out, falliing back and taking most of the bush with them. Gatomon and Patamon quickly broke the kiss and turned towards the now exposed spies. Both had a look of fear in their eyes.
"Busted..." Patamon whispered, too worried to say anything else. Agumon and Tentomon recovered and walked over to the two, leading them back toward Tai and Izzy.
"Let's get back to camp." Agumon said, walking ahead with Tentomon. Patamon and Gatomon were following them, their heads hanging low. Tai and Izzy stared in shock for a while longer before following the four Digimon. Tai wasn't too surprised at the sight, most of his shock came from other thoughts. The moment he saw the two kiss, he couldn't help but fear the shared emotions from Digidestined to Digimon didn't work both ways.
To Be Continued...
Next: Chapter 3 -- The Fallen Angel
Chapter 2 -- Digital Discovery
(Author's Note: This is a TK/Kari fic, but expect Tai/Sora and Matt/Mimi in there as well. It's definatly a romance fic, but it'll have plenty of action in there, too, or it will sooner or later. This fanfic is set 4 years after the defeat of Apocalymon and writen before the second Digimon series or movie came to America, so no characters or plots from that series or movie are in this story. Also, so nobody has to fight to think of how they changed in looks, just imagine the TV characters taller and more mature looking, I wont make reference to their clothes so you can imagine them however you want, I thought that would make it easier on you. Please read Chapter 1 so you'll know everything that's going on in this story. I admit this chapter has little TK/Kari romance, but for those fans, there's a surprise near the end.)
While all of the Digidestined were spending their last day in their world, mostly doing what they liked to do best, their Digimon were spending another uneventful day on File Island. After all they had been through, they all wondered why they haven't gone insane with bordom. For some reason, they had been contacted by Gennai to meet at this spot, a riverbank not too far away from the beach. He didn't say why, just to wait till the next day and they'd see why. The strange part was that this was the first place they had really met their human friends and explained Digivolving to them.
Agumon and Biyomon were sitting together, their feet dangling in the calm waters of the river. Biyomon had her head rested against Agumon's shoulder, which he hardly minded since he had his arm draped over her shoulders in trade. For almost a year now the two had been inseperable for some reason. Neither one could explain it, but they didn't want to lose that feeling, either. Just as the two were starting to doze off, they felt a sudden splash of water hit them, knocking them on their backs.
"Whoops, sorry guys!" Gomamon's voice said from the water. Agumon and Biyomon sat up to see Gomamon, neck deep in the water, with many of his colorful fish around him. "I've been looking for Palmon, Gabumon said they got into a fight and she ran off." It wasn't anything new to Agumon or Biyomon, though. Gabumon and Palmon had the same thing Agumon and Biyomon had, except they've had it for about 5 months and they had already gotten into a few fights.
"Did Gabumon say where she ran off to?" Biyomon asked, now on her feet. Agumon got to his feet and looked around, looking for Tentomon, Patamon and Gatomon.
"No, he just said she ran off, then he left to find her." Gomamon explained. "I already found Tentomon, he's flying around looking for her and Gabumon now." He turned around quickly, looking at his fish friends. "Go up and down the river as far as you can, if you see anything green and pink, let me know!" The fish seemed to understand and swam off, half going one way, half going the other. Agumon was still looking around for the others. He spotted Patamon, napping in a low branch of a tree with Gatomon taking a cat nap at the base of the tree.
"Hey, Gatomon, Patamon, wake up time!" Agumon said, running over to the tree. Gatomon woke up quickly and stood up. Patamon had waken up from Agumon's yelling too, but woke up much slower.
"Agumon, do you have to disturb all of my naps?" Gatomon said, flexing her claws a bit. Agumon had been a bit of a leader in Tai's absence, something he had picked up from his human friend.
"Sorry..." Agumon said, scratching the back of his head. "Palmon ran off and we're trying to find her." Patamon's "ears" perked up, now fully awake.
"No problem, why didn't you say so?" Gatomon said. "I'll have her back in two shakes of a digitail." With that she turned and started to head into a small forest nearby.
"Hey, hold it!" Agumon quickly shouted, stopping Gatomon. "Let me come with you, two can find her faster than one." Agumon started to follow, only to stop when Gatomon shook her head at him.
"No offence, Agumon, but I don't need you to find a stray flower... Besides, I'd be better off alone." Gatomon had a point... She was the only Champion level Digimon among them and a lot of Digimon still knew her as one of Myotismon's henchmen, which scared most off. Gatomon started to run off again, then her eyes caught Patamon, still in the tree, staring at her. After about a minute of eye to eye contact, Gatomon waved Patamon to come with her. Patamon flew from his spot on the branch and flew after Gatomon, who was running into the forest. Once the two were gone, Agumon couldn't help but wonder why she wanted Patamon to come with her and not him...
"Hey, Agumon!" Biyomon's voice called out, breaking Agumon's thought. "Gomamon's fish are coming back, I think they found something!" Agumon turned back toward Biyomon and walked to her. He saw the fish that went downstream coming back, more jumpy than when they left. Gomamon had gotten out of the water and was standing on one side of Biyomon with Agomon on her other side.
"Fine anything?" Gomamon asked his fish. They flopped up and down like they were nodding yes. They flopped around and somehow produced a pink rose, complete with a green stem. They passed it over to Gomamon, who took it in his claws, but just stared at it. "That's not quite... what I meant..." he said. Disappointed, the fist dived underwater and vanished. Gomamon tossed the rose behind him where Agumon caught it. He looked at it for a second, then at Biyomon before slipping the rose into the feathers on the side of her head. The rose was just barely a darker shade of pink than her feathers. Biyomon smiled and gave Agumon a "peck" on his cheek just before Tentomon flew back from a group of trees with Palmon slowly walking behind him.
"Great job, Tentomon!" Agumon said. "How did you find her?" Tentomon landed in front of Agumon. He was panting and looked eager to finally let his wings rest.
"Well it wasn't easy to say the least!" Tentomon shouted. "I was chasing after Gabumon, but he ran into some thick trees and I lost him, then Palmon came out of nowhere and I followed her, then I lose her and found Gabumon, then lost him and found her... I was going nuts!" Tentomon collapsed, exausted from searching and explaining his search. Palmon, still at her slow walking pace, finally reached the group.
"Palmon, we were worried about you." Biyomon said. Palmon was looking towards the ground with a sad look in her eyes. The kind she had every time she and Gabumon had this kind of argument.
"I'm sorry..." Palmon said with a sad tone in her voice. "When me and Gabumon got into another argument, I just had to get away for a while... I didn't mean to worry everybody... It's just that every time Gabumon does this..." As if on cue, the fish that went upstream came back with Gabumon on the riverbank, following the fish back to the group. Palmon saw him first and immediatly moved, putting the rest of the Digimon between her and Gabumon. Gabumon had the same sad look in his eye, but kept his distance from the group.
"Welcome back, Gabumon!" Agumon said, walking over to the sad Digimon. The two had groen to be best friends since Tai and Matt had last left. Gabumon didn't answer Agumon's greeting, though, he was too upset to worry about returning the greeting. Agumon seemed understanding, keeping quiet instead of asking and nagging about it.
"Well now that we're all here," Biyomon started, "where's Patamon and Gatomon? Shouldn't they have been back by now?" Agumon looked back at where Gatomon and Patamon had run off to and saw that they weren't back yet. They weren't anywhere nearby, either. "Maybe we should send someone after them." Biyomon suggested.
"Good idea." Agumon agreed. "Hey Tentomon, can you..."
"Are you crazy?!" Tentomon said, cutting Agumon off. Tentomon was still laying flat on his belly with his wings twitching, still exhausted from searching for Palmon and Gabumon.
"Whoops, sorry..." Agumon said, forgetting Tentomon was still tired. "Guess I'll have to go after them..." Agumon turned toward the spot Gatomon and Patamon disppeared into and started running toward it, half afraid some Digimon grabbed them. Just as he was about to go through the bushes the two ran off into, something popped out and bashed into Agumon, throwing him back a few feet. Agumon, now half on his back, rubbed his throbbing head. He had his eyes shut so he didn't see what hit him. When he did finally open them, he was surprised to see Patamon rubbing his own head with Gatomon kneeling down beside him. "Where have you two been??" Agumon asked, ignoring his headache. Patamon shook his head a bit and stood up with Gatomon, both with slightly guilty looks on their faces.
"Sorry, Agumon." Gatomon said. Agumon felt like he had heard that word one too many times today. "We thought we saw Palmon and chased after her, but we lost her after a while." Gatomon took a quick glance behind Agumon and saw Palmon, now with her feet dangling in the water to get a drink. "Guess you did better than we did." Agumon looked at Patamon, who was just watching Gatomon explain things.
"Don't worry about it, you just concerned us, that's all." Agumon said before turning around and walking back to the group. Gatomon and Patamon glanced at each other, still with guilty looks on their faces, then followed the orange Digimon back to the main group. Tentomon was back on his feet and Biyomon had her feet back in the water. She was talking things over with Palmon, trying to lift her spirits. Gabumon had found Gatomon's previous spot at the base of the nearest tree and was now leaning against it, still sad apparently.
Agumon looked up at the now dark night sky. Agumon looked at a small pile of sticks he had piled up earlier and spit a small Pepper Breath at it, setting it ablaze. "Well Gennai told us to wait for morning." Agumon said, finding a spot near the fire and laying down. "Might as well sleep till then..." Agumon stayed awake, watching everyone else. Biyomon, as usual, took a spot near Agumon and fell asleep fast. Tentomon had his own spot across from them and was already fast asleep, probably from flying around all day. Palmon had left the river and found a place a little away from the fire, not wanting to get singed in the middle of the night. After a while, Gabumon slowly left the tree and found a spot on the opposite side of the fire that Palmon was on, still trying to keep away from her at all costs. Once most were asleep, Agumon looked around and started to stand up when Gatomon put her claw on his shoulder, pushing him back down.
"Don't bother, Agumon." Gatomon whispered. "Me and Patamon will take tonight's watch, just get to sleep." Agumon thought about it, then nodded and laid down beside Biyomon. As he was going to sleep, he remembered that Gatomon and Patamon asked for the watch a lot more often over the past few months. It made sense, Gatomon was the strongest and cats could stay up a long time, but why Patamon took the watch, too, he didn't know. He set it aside and fell asleep, but he still wasn't sure about what to expect when he woke up.
**********
The next day, back in the real world, it was almost noon and the Digidestined were gathering in the middle of the park. The area they decided on was surrounded by trees so nobody could see what was happening. They had always met here when they did their usual trips back and forth and the area was still just as private two years later. Izzy was, of course, typing on his computer, making sure everything was in order. Sora and Mimi were on one side talking, mostly about what was going on between Mimi and Matt. Mimi was always ready to talk about their fights the day after they have them. Kari was also there, leaving much earlier than her older brother. She was eager to get back and see Gatomon again. Joe, ever the reliable one, was the first one there out of all of them and was waiting against his favorite tree for the others.
The second noon rolled around TK and Matt came through the trees. As soon as they came through the trees Mimi turned away, not sure of what to think of Matt at the moment. Kari just smiled when she saw TK come in.
"Let me guess." Matt said, taking a spot against a tree near where they came in. "We're waiting for our 'fearless leader' to show up?" Everyone but TK and Mimi nodded at Matt, even Izzy who had shut down his laptop for now. "Why am I not surprised..." Matt asked himself, staring at the ground. Tai really was his best friend but sometimes he couldn't help but say things like that.
After sitting for about 20 minutes with little conversation, Tai ran through the trees and practically skidded to a stop in the center of their little area. He was panting and sweating a bit, obviously running all the way here. Everyone was glad he didn't take as long as he did last time they went and smiled at his sudden entrance. Sora walked over and hugged him, with Tai returning it as well as he could.
"Sorry I'm so late, everyone." Tai said, letting go of Sora. "I kind of got caught up in something." Tai was covering up the fact he had lost his Digivice for a while. He finally found it just five minutes ago.
"Now that everyone's here." Izzy started, standing up. "Did everyone remember their Digivices?" Izzy was looking at Tai, half expecting him to admit he couldn't find his.
"Yes!" Everyone but Izzy said at once. Even thought they weren't needed, everyone was also wearing their fake tags and crests. To everyone it didn't seem like the Digiworld without them.
"Then you all know the drill!" Izzy said, walking into the center of the circle. He grabbed his Digivice from his pocket and held it out with it facing towards the sky.
"I've still got a bad feeling about this..." Joe said, joining Izzy in the center, holding out his Digivice. One by one, the rest walked up and held their Digivices out with all of them pointed up at the sky.
"Don't worry about it, Joe." Tai said, trying to bring some confidence to his friend. "There's nothing to worry about, we've done this plenty of times." Tai was right, this used to be a weekly visit till high school hit them.
"Well sorry, Tai." Joe said, sounding half sarcastic. "I guess it's just my fear of being tossed through dimentions by something we've known for so long and still barely know about." Tai rolled his eyes, knowing he'd answer like that. The eight waited a few seconds in silence before a rainbow of light fell from the sky, touching the ground they were surrounding. The whole thing was still a little eerie to all of them, crossing dimentions on a rainbow, but it was the only way to get to the Digiworld. Tai was the first to step into the light, followed by Kari and Matt. One by one, the rest of the group walked into the rainbow light, Joe being the last. Slowly, they lifted off the ground, raising slowly higher into the beam of light. Just before they were above the treetops where they would be seen, a bright flash of light came out of nowhere, making it hard for any of them to see until they were all forced to close their eyes. They all felt themselves first going up very fast, then like they were falling, but it all happened so quick it was hard to tell.
**********
Agumon was snoring away, having a nice dream of Biyomon and him with a Digiegg or two. Agumon was always having such far out dreams. Suddenly his dream was broken by a slight shaking, like someone was trying to wake him up. Agumon figured it was just Gatomon waiting for him to take over night watch and pretended he was still asleep, keeping his eyes clenched shut.
"Wake up, sleepy head!" A voice above Agumon said. It definatly wasn't Gatomon, the voice was male, but that was all he could tell in his drowsy state. The shaking became more violent, giving Agumon a headache from all the shaking. Finally, Agumon relented and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked up and saw a mess of brown and blue in his foggy eyes. He rubbed them again and looked back up, now seeing who was shaking him. "Not getting enough sleep lately?" Tai said, grinning. Agumon sprang to his feet and tackled his best human friend, excited to see him.
"Tai, what are you doing here?!" Agumon said eagerly. Tai was trying his best to get up before Agumon's excitement got out of hand.
"We thought we'd stop by!" Tai said, rolling Agumon off and standing up. "Besides, it's the first time we've all been available in a long time."
"Um... we?" Agumon said, kind of confused. He looked around and saw what he meant. All the Digidestined were with their Digimon. Sora was sitting on the ground, hugging Biyomon. Izzy was already trading stories with Tentomon about the past two years. Joe was sitting by the river, trying to avoid being splashed by Gomamon. TK looked the most excited, chasing Patamon around the area and having some trouble catching the flying Digimon. Mimi was hugging Palmon and Palmon looked really happy for the first time since her fight with Gabumon. Speaking of which, Matt was sitting against a tree with Gabumon, playing on his harmonica like old times. Kari was up in a tree with Gatomon sitting in her lap, glad to be with her human companion. It almost looked like the old times when they didn't have to worry about Dark Masters or evil Digimon like that, despite how rare those times were.
"What, you didn't think I'd come back alone, did you?" Tai said, knowing the answer and wearing a smile that said he did.
"Well how was I suppose to know?" Agumon said, still looking around, half in disbelief. "I'm glad you're back, though, things have been way too dull around here." Agumon was looking at Patamon, still being chased my TK, who just flew up and joined Gatomon and Kari. TK reached the tree and climbed up after Patamon, who seemed to be waiting for TK to get to the branch Kari was on. Once he did, Patamon flew over and sat in his lap, partially from being tired from flying around so much. "Those two still hang around together all the time?" Agumon asked Tai, who was looking over at Sora and Mimi talking with Biyomon and Palmon.
"Yeah, I'm lucky I can even separate those two when I need to." Tai said, turning his attention to the four in the tree.
"That's the same for Gatomon and Patamon, they've been best friends ever since you guys last left." Agumon explained. "Just last night they volunteered to take guard duty, they've been doing that a lot the past few months." Tai was surprised at the news since Gatomon always seemed like the kind that didn't take many friends, except for Kari and Wizardmon before his death. Something in the back of Tai's mind told him that such a thing might not be such a coincidence...
**********
A few hours later, it really was back to old times. The Digidestined and their Digimon were exploring their favorite parts of File Island, most of which was new to Kari since she never really explored the island before. Some of the Digimon had paired off and were walking together in front of their human companions. Agumon and Biyomon were in the front, walking just ahead of Tai and Sora. Matt and Gabumon were trying to keep the group between them and Mimi and Palmon. Izzy, Tentomon, Joe and Gomamon were dead center of the group, and TK and Kari were in the back, walking just in front of Patamon and Gatomon. Everyone seemed happy to be back to their traditional setup of things.
"We realls should have come back here sooner." Sora said, taking Tai's hand in her own. "I forgot how beautiful the Digiworld could be when there weren't any evil Digimon trying to take it over." Tai smiled at Sora and gripped her hand a little.
"You're right." He admitted. "It's kind of hard to notice when you've got Devimons and Etemons and Dark Masters getting you all the time." Tai meant it as a joke, but Sora seemed serious at the thought. She looked down at Biyomon and noticed something she hadn't seen before, making her forget about Tai's comment.
"Hey, Tai..." Sora said in a silent tone. "Take a look at Agumon and Biyomon, you notice anything strange?" Tai looked down at his orange Digimon and he looked the same as always. He turned his eyes to Biyomon, who also looked the same... but the two were holding hands as they walked... well claws and wings, at least... still Tai never noticed it before.
"Hey guys, maybe we should take a quick rest?" Tai said suddenly. Everyone was surprised by it since Tai never did this before, but none complained.
"Wow." Mimi said to Palmon. "Maybe Tai wants to take as many breaks as I do from now on?" Palmon shrugged as best as she could.
"Maybe, but then again maybe something's wrong?" Palmon said. "That's why we always stopped suddenly before." Mimi cringed a bit.
"Please, Palmon, don't mention that, we haven't even been here a day yet." Mimi said. Palmon smiled nervously and nodded. The spot they ended up stopping at was a fairly large area a short distance from a small lake, possibly the one they battled Seadramon in. There was a small patch of trees nearby, too, which must have grown since they were there last, and the area was mostly surrounded by bushes. Gabumon wandered over to the lake, possibly still depressed over his fight with Palmon. Once everyone was settled down, Tai walked to Izzy, who was back to translating the script on the temple wall with Tentomon watching over his shoulder.
"Hey, Izzy." Tai said, sittind down in front of Izzy. "By any chance, did you notice what's going on between Agumon and Biyomon?" Izzy was still staring at his computer screen, typing furiously. "IZZY!!" Tai screamed, scaring Izzy out of his computer trance and knocking Tentomon onto his back.
"You don't have to yell!" Izzy said, setting his computer aside. "Now what about Agumon and Biyomon? They look perfectly fine to..." Izzy's glance fell on the two Digimon in question, who were sitting against a tree, thier arms around each other's shoulders. "...I think I see what you mean." Izzy looked about as shocked as Tai was when he saw it first.
"I never thought Digimon fell in love like humans." Tai said, looking at his Digimon, who was smiling happily. "But the thing that really got to me was that Agumon told me Gatomon and Patamon have been best friends just like TK and Kari... It got me wondering if anything could be happening between us and our Digimon." Izzy picked up his computer again, but this time accessed a few files on their Digimon and the Digidestined.
"Well we do share a bond with them that even I don't really understand." Izzy explained. "It's easily possible that our emotional feelings pass to them as well, and since you and Sora are in love, Agumon and Biyomon are too." Tai looked back at Agumon and Biyomon again and realized he might be right. "Hey Tentomon?" Izzy said to his friend, who just got back onto his feet. "How long have Agumon and Biyomon been like this?" Tentomon looked over at the two Digimon, which was nothing new to him.
"If I remember straight, a little short of a year now." Tentomon said. "I guess it's been going on so much I never really noticed anymore." Izzy and Tai both looked at each other in disbelief.
"Well, that's proof enough for me." Tai said. Then something else hit him. "Hey Tentomon, has anything been going on with Gabumon and Palmon?" Izzy suddenly realized the same thing when Tai mentioned them.
"Well yes, but they're different." Tentomon said. Tai and Izzy were looking around for Gabumon and Palmon now, seeing how they were acting. "One minute they're perfectly happy then the next they're at each others throats... They've been doing that for about 6 months now." Now Tai and Izzy were even worse than before. Neither one could find Gabumon, but they saw Palmon wander off in one the direction Gabumon went, towards the lake. The two were about to follow when they saw Matt walking off toward a different part of the lake. "Um, this may or may not be a good thing but I think I saw Mimi wander off in that direction earlier." Now Tai and Izzy knew something bad was about to happen.
"Might be a good idea to keep an eye on both of them." Tai said, walking off in the direction Matt went. Before he could get too far, Izzy grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.
"We've gotta keep an eye on both couples." Izzy said, pointing in the direction Palmon went in. "The two spots aren't that far off, I'll bet the trees separating them have a spot where we could keep an eye on all of them." Tai looked and saw the paths really weren't that far off and were divifed by a patch of trees not a few feet deep. Not enough to stop them from seeing both groups, but also enough that the two couples couldn't hear each other. Tai began to walk toward the patch of trees when he heard a sound behind him. He and Izzy turned around and saw TK and Kari, standing there like they were listening the whole time. Tai looked back at the tree the two were in before and only saw Patamon and Gatomon sitting on the branch.
"Let me guess." Tai said looking at the two. Both had a slightly mischevous look on their faces. "You want to come along?" TK and Kari both nodded.
"I've gotta see what my brother's up to, he never just walks off like that..." TK wasn't including the time he walked off after their first Puppetmon incident since he came back and explained... sort of.
"Besides, we've got experiance with this kind of thing!" Kari said, winking at her brother. Tai didn't know what she was talking about, but before he had time to think he was chasing after the two, who were running off for the patch of trees. Izzy was following close behind, trying his best to keep up. All this time, Agumon and Tentomon were watching their human friends arranging everything. Then something came to Agumon's mind.
"Hey Tentomon?" Agumon asked, glancing at the tree Gatomon and Patamon were sitting in. "Last night Gatomon said she and Patamon found and followed Palmon before they lost her. Did you see either one when you were following Palmon?" Tentomon looked at Agumon, the thought for a second.
"Well it was hard to tell with my eyes drifting so often..." Tentomon admited. "but no, I don't think I did. I would have recognised them, a white cat and an orange pig are kind of easy to spot in so much green jungle." Agumon sat down and let the new thoughts swim in his head for a second. He couldn't help but wonder why Gatomon might lie to him...
**********
Tai and Izzy found TK and Kari already sitting in a narrow, clear area of the trees, surrounded by small bushes. In front of them was just more trees, but to one side was a perfect view of Mimi looking out at the water. On the other side, they had another great view, this one of Gabumon sitting waterside. The two were starting to think TK and Kari really did have experience with this.
"Took you two long enough." TK said in a quiet tone. Tai and Izzy kneeled down to hide better while both scenes took place. Nobody was sure which scene to watch more. Suddenly they knew as they saw Palmon emerge from the trees on their right, walking up to Gabumon. Gabumon turned and saw Palmon and started to walk off when Palmon extended her vines, blocking him off.
"Gabumon..." Palmon said, her voice a little shakey. "We've gotta talk, we can't avoid each other forever, you know." Palmon gave him a look of concern and Gabumon nodded, trying his best not to look straight into Palmon's eyes.
"I know..." He replied, the same shakey tone in his voice. "I'm sorry I got so mad at you, I never should have gotten that upset..." Palmon looked at him and drew her vines back in, trusting him not to leave. The four spies couldn't help but keep watching, until they heard something on their other side. They all looked over to the other side to see Matt and Mimi now talking. They had already started while they were watching the Digimon.
"No, Matt, I'm sorry..." Mimi said. It was strange because she was picking up right where Palmon left off. "It wasn't that big of a deal, I don't know why I got so mad..." Matt had a genuine look of worry on his face, something that surprised even his brother.
"No, all you wanted was to pop into a store for a minute, it wasn't anything I sould have gotten mad about." Matt looked like he was about to cry, but Mimi had beat him to it, letting a few tears roll down her cheek. Tai, Izzy and TK were still staring when Kari tugged on their shirts. They turned to see the scene of Gabumon and Palmon again. Gabumon was gently wiping away a pair of tears that were coming down Palmon's cheek.
"You know how much I hate to get into these fights..." Gabumon said gently. "The last thing I would do would be to hurt you..." Palmon sniffed a bit, trying to keep the tears back.
"I do, too..." Palmon admitted, wrapping her arms around Gabumon. Gabumon wrapped his upper arms around Palmon. TK lost intrest in this mush and turned back to Matt and Mimi, with Tai, Izzy and Kari doing the same. They fell upon a similar scene, with Matt and Mimi embracing the same way.
"I don't know why we fight so much..." Matt said, letting his eyes tear up a bit. "Every time we do it kills me because... I... I love you, Mimi..." Mimi's eyes lit up at the sound of those 3 words.
"Oh, Matt..." Mimi said, now crying from happiness. "I love you, too..." Matt smiled, hearing those words. He leaned his head down to Mimi's and kissed her with passion, a kiss Mimi gladly returned. TK and Kari jerked their heads away from the sight right away, still recovering from seeing Tai and Sora do the same thing. Tai and Izzy just sat there in shock. TK and Kari looked at each other, then grabbed Tai and Izzy by the arm and yanked them away from the sight, turning them back towards Gabumon and Palmon, who were now embraced tighter.
"Palmon..." Gabumon said, barely audible from where the four spies were sitting. "Promise we won't get into any other fights... for a while at least?" Gabumon let go of Palmon and let his hands fall into hers.
"I promise." Palmon said smiling. Still holding hands, the two turned toward the lake, watching the sky going dark, slowly becoming night. The four spies turned to the left to see Matt and Mimi doing the same thing. In silence, the four left their spot to leave the two couples to themselves. Once they were all out of the trees, they all stretched a bit, cramped from stayong on their knees for so long.
"Well at least their fight is over for now." Tai commented. Everyone nodded, then looked around. Everyone was still where they left them, but Joe had fallen into the water when Gomamon splashed him too hard. One thing TK and Kari noticed was that Patamon and Gatomon had left their perch on the tree branch. Tai and Izzy walked over to Agumon and Tentomon who were watching a patch of tall bushes. TK and Kari had walked back to the tree to wait for their Digimon to come back from wherever they went.
"Agumon?" Tai said, wondering what he was looking at. "What's so interesting about a few bushes?" Tai meant it as a joke, but Agumon had a different idea about things apparently.
"It's interesting because Patamon and Gatomon headed in there just now." Agumon said. Tai couldn't tell if his friend sounded worried or curious. "They've been doing this for about two years now and it's starting to make me wonder what they're doing." Tai looked at the bushes, then back at Izzy.
"Up for another spy game?" Tai asked Izzy with a mischevous tone in his voice.
"Sure, but ths time Tentomon and Agumon come along." Izzy said, looking down at the bug Digimon beside him. "They'll know more about what has been happening than we will." Tai nodded, agreeing, then slowly wandered into and through the bushes, trying to stay silent. Izzy soon followed, then Agumon and Tentomon came through the bushes. The view was of a small clearing with nothing but thick trees on all sides. The four saw Gatomon and Patamon, sitting beside each other. Gatomon's cat eyes could have spotted them in a second if it wasn't for the thick bush they were hiding in.
"I don't know how much longer we can keep this up..." Patamon said, a sad look on his face. Gatomon brushed her claw against his cheek, trying to get him to smile.
"I know, two years we've been doing this..." Gatomon said, trying to hide how upset she was. "The others will suspect something sooner or later." Patamon nodded, agreeing.
"Well they're our friends, if we can't tell them, who can we tell?" Patamon was trying to put a bright spin on whatever situation the four spies were watching.
"I don't know if they would accept it..." Gatomon said, now showing a hint of sadness in her eyes. "We aren't even on the same Digivolution level." Izzy was obviously getting some ideas, but didn't want to jump to conclusions. He knew the two were best friends since TK and Kari were best friends, so whatever they meant was escaping him.
"I know..." Patamon said, turning toward Gatomon. "Sometimes I can't believe it myself." Patamon was smiling again, stretching the wings on his head a bit.
"Guess you can't help but like mature girls?" Gatomon joked. Tai and Izzy were both getting ideas now, but before they could think them through, Gatomon and Patamon embraced each other and shared a deep kiss, the kind that only two people deeply in love would give each other. Tai and Izzy's jaw's dropped a the sight, but Agumon and Tentomon completely freaked out, falliing back and taking most of the bush with them. Gatomon and Patamon quickly broke the kiss and turned towards the now exposed spies. Both had a look of fear in their eyes.
"Busted..." Patamon whispered, too worried to say anything else. Agumon and Tentomon recovered and walked over to the two, leading them back toward Tai and Izzy.
"Let's get back to camp." Agumon said, walking ahead with Tentomon. Patamon and Gatomon were following them, their heads hanging low. Tai and Izzy stared in shock for a while longer before following the four Digimon. Tai wasn't too surprised at the sight, most of his shock came from other thoughts. The moment he saw the two kiss, he couldn't help but fear the shared emotions from Digidestined to Digimon didn't work both ways.
To Be Continued...
Next: Chapter 3 -- The Fallen Angel